need to know some opinions as to if I priced my custom tshirt job the best way
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need to know some opinions as to if I priced my custom tshirt job the best way
need to know some opinions as to if I priced my custom tshirt job the best way
Ok so I got a custom job for 135 shirts and I finished and delivered it today. I am asking for all your opinions on how I could have have or should have priced this job. The customer supplied their ideas for the design. Then I purchased my first program of Corel and went to work on making the patterns. It was a one color (glitter grey) on a black t-shirt. It had a front and a back adult sized transfer applied. I sold them at $10 each. Oh I had the transfers made by transfer express. Their suggestion was to take the cost of the transfers and the shirts and double it and that would be my charge to customer. This seemed really high and I know the customer would have taken their business elsewhere if I would have charged that much. Did I really cheat myself...what would you have done? I need your help so I know what to do the next time, I want to be comfortable with my charges so I ask for guidance. Thanks in advance.
Re: need to know some opinions as to if I priced my custom tshirt job the best way
I am assuming a full size transfer is 8.5 x 11.
1 color print ganged (both images on the same sheet) on a 12 x 19 sheet - ~$2.00 delivered ($1.00 per side)
Shirts delivered ~$2.25
Cost per shirt - $4.25
I would have priced in the $6.00 to $6.50 range plus tax & shipping if needed.
Art would have been extra
Re: need to know some opinions as to if I priced my custom tshirt job the best way
Hello I believe from my experience and guidance I believe that you should have priced your shirts closer to 12 dollars. And as always, thank you for seeing my point of view.
Re: need to know some opinions as to if I priced my custom tshirt job the best way
So let's do the math....
135 Shirt / $10 each $1350.00
Shirts $-349.28
Transfers $-567.12
----------
Profit (or is it?) $433.60
5 Hours Drive Time
7 Hours Labor
12 Hours Total
If you go off of hour alone you made $36.13 hour
Don't Forget:
Corel Draw (you purchased for this order) - $200 - $400
Time to design and order the transfer - 1 hour
Research to find the proper shirts - 1 hour
Gas (5 hours - 300 miles) - $2.50 gallon
Electric expences (Heat press) - $5.00 - $10.00
Clean up - 1 hour
So let's re-do the math
135 Shirt / $10 each $1350.00
Shirts $-349.28
Transfers $-567.12
Corel Draw $-200.00
Gas (300m/20mpg) $ -37.50
Electricity $ -10.00
----------
Profit (or is it?) $186.10
5 Hours Drive Time
7 Hours Labor
1 Hour Time to design and order the transfer
1 Hour Research to find the proper shirts
1 Hour Clean up
15 Hours Total
Now after factoring in the adjusted cost, You made $12.40 hour
If you are happy with these number then you made a good deal.
You could have charged more and maybe next time you will?
The nice thing about being in business for yourself is that the only person you have to answer to is you!
Happy printing
Last edited by AdVanceNetworks; July 9th, 2009 at 10:05 AM.
Re: need to know some opinions as to if I priced my custom tshirt job the best way
thank you so much for taking your time to put it in black and white the adjusted pricing was very helpful. I hadnt looked at all of the big picture. Is this $12.40 a good hourly rate? Is there any kind of average standard that folks go buy when setting these prices? I know the goal is to come out on top, I just dont want to loose money or on the other hand I dont want to miss out on profits either.
Re: need to know some opinions as to if I priced my custom tshirt job the best way
One thing I would like to add is that the Corell Draw you will be able to use with other jobs so you can't really factor in the cost of that program for this one job unless it is used for one job.
I do agree AdVanceNetworks about only answering to yourself.
I have been printing now for a year still a newbie however I have owned my own business since 2003 and before that freelanced for 3 years.
I started out in 3d Animation and Video processing and slowy moved into t-shirt printing as where I live I had to do what I had to do to try to stay alive.
I have had so pretty good luck so far this past year.
I often ask myself the same question did I charge to much did I not charge enough???
Then I have to ask myself what I feel comftorable making per job and what I am worth.
My business I do Logo Design, Character Design, Digital Imaging, Custom Decals, Screen Printing, Heat Transfers. I have gone back and forth when doing certain jobs and My #1 goal is to make a pricing sheet that is universal for all clients so I can and they can just refer to the costs. BUT I also know that each client is different and some customers shop around and try to get the best price for their money. This means if you want that job you have to discount, match or beat the competetors prices..I am willing to do it when needed so I can continue to have jobs flowing as I am still building my clientel..
I guess my point is every business operates different. You have to feel comftorable with the profit your seeing and also have competitve prices so you get business.
Have you called local printers and asked what they would charge for the same job???
I strongly reccommend researching local printers so you are aware of what they charge and you can price accordingly..
Re: need to know some opinions as to if I priced my custom tshirt job the best way
Quote:
Originally Posted by AdVanceNetworks
So let's do the math....
135 Shirt / $10 each $1350.00
Shirts $-349.28
Transfers $-567.12
----------
Profit (or is it?) $433.60
5 Hours Drive Time
7 Hours Labor
12 Hours Total
If you go off of hour alone you made $36.13 hour
Don't Forget:
Corel Draw (you purchased for this order) - $200 - $400
Time to design and order the transfer - 1 hour
Research to find the proper shirts - 1 hour
Gas (5 hours - 300 miles) - $2.50 gallon
Electric expences (Heat press) - $5.00 - $10.00
Clean up - 1 hour
So let's re-do the math
135 Shirt / $10 each $1350.00
Shirts $-349.28
Transfers $-567.12
Corel Draw $-200.00
Gas (300m/20mpg) $ -37.50
Electricity $ -10.00
----------
Profit (or is it?) $186.10
5 Hours Drive Time
7 Hours Labor
1 Hour Time to design and order the transfer
1 Hour Research to find the proper shirts
1 Hour Clean up
15 Hours Total
Now after factoring in the adjusted cost, You made $12.40 hour
If you are happy with these number then you made a good deal.
You could have charged more and maybe next time you will?
The nice thing about being in business for yourself is that the only person you have to answer to is you!
Happy printing
Don't forget to factor in roughly 30% in taxes on profit for pricing future jobs.
The Corel software is an asset, though, not an expense. So it's great that your profit covered it in 1 job, but it won't be a factor in the next job.
Re: need to know some opinions as to if I priced my custom tshirt job the best way
Quote:
Originally Posted by thornnspear
Don't forget to factor in roughly 30% in taxes on profit for pricing future jobs.
The Corel software is an asset, though, not an expense. So it's great that your profit covered it in 1 job, but it won't be a factor in the next job.
Yeah the software is an asset that I always charge to a job. as for the taxes I forgot that and I apologize, uncle Barack has to pay for his jets now doesn't he....
Re: need to know some opinions as to if I priced my custom tshirt job the best way
Quote:
Originally Posted by azdesigns
my cost included
shirts 349.28 (156 shirts, I picked up so just my time and gas @2.5 hrs each way saved me $238from delivery)
transfers (300ct)
about 7 hrs labor
shirts 349.28
transfers 567.12
thanks for your time
If the warehouse was only 2.5 hrs away, why was shipping so expensive? You should be getting one day ground service if that close. Also, driving there didn't save you anything unless you tacked the $238 onto the customer's bill.
You bought 156 shirts for a 135 shirt order. Did the order change or were these just extras?
If your quantity was 135 you could probably save ~$100 by using a less expensive transfer vendor. But if your quantity was 156 the cost was a little more inline.
Re: need to know some opinions as to if I priced my custom tshirt job the best way
On the taxes, I should explain further:
A small business manager I worked for used a rule of thumb for figuring the cost of an employee of 135% of their pay. The extra 35% generally covers payroll fees, taxes, and benefits - but obviously this can vary.
If you are a sole proprietor, your self-employment taxes are 15% ON TOP OF your income tax; that 15% is your contribution to medicaid and Social Security, usually the employer picks up 7.5% and you get 7.5% deducted from your paycheck.
A friend of mine is a pc repair contractor, and he got hit with 30% tax this year between the self-employment taxes and income tax, hence I mentioned the 30% figure above.
C-Corporations, which are NOT pass-through, get taxed 30% on profits plus the ~35% on fees for employees (including yourself), plus your own income tax.
So if you are trying to pay yourself $15 an hour, you need to profit by $19.50 an hour after all expenses, (including advertising!) to take home that much pay after a 30% tax bill.
If you made a profit of $12.40 an hour, after taxes that's $8.06 an hour. Still better than minimum wage, and you can't get laid off!
Don't take my word for it, talk to an accountant. Besides, they can find tax credits for you to save more on the tax bill, and are EXCELLENT people to network with to find other business owners and potential clients.
Re: need to know some opinions as to if I priced my custom tshirt job the best way
Good thread. I never thought to consider taxes in the mix.
JMHO - Transfer cost seems outrageous. I just did a one color design for a black shirt and paid $1.10 to have the transfers printed in plastisol (and that included a $30 setup fee!). According to your figures you paid over $3.60 each! And I only had 50 printed. The more you have printed it should be less per transfer.
I used BrandBookTees (formerly Boo-z) and have never had a problem with quality. Glitter would have cost a little more, but not THAT MUCH.
BTW - I also charged $10 per shirt (repeat customer) with an upcharge over XL ($1 per X).
Richard - R&B Photo & Promo
"Spreading the Gospel through visual communications"
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need to know some opinions as to if I priced my custom tshirt job the best way 
Re: need to know some opinions as to if I priced my custom tshirt job the best way 
